Dry water soluble polymers (DWSPs) have been in the marketplace for many years. For example, DWSPs may include dry polyelectrolytes, starches and polysaccharides, among others. Exemplary polyelectrolytes can include anionic, cationic, or nonionic polyelectrolytes. The DWSPs can be high molecular weight, such as ranging from about 200,000 to 20,000,000 g/mol. Typically, DWSPs are dissolved in water for applications such as water clarification, waste water clarification, sludge dewatering, retention aids in the paper process, tailings clarification in the mining industry, and friction reduction in the oil and gas industry, among other applications.
The hydroscopic nature of the DWSPs cause the DWSPs to agglomerate when water is added, making the DWSPs difficult to disperse and dissolve. In addition, aqueous solutions ranging from about 0.1 wt % to about 1.0 wt % DWSPs are difficult to make because DWSPs can form a viscous solution in water. Viscosities of this solution can range from about 500 to 3,000 centipoise, or greater than 3,000 centipoise.
Generally, the water used to make solution of DWSPs is fresh water, i.e., water that is low in dissolved solids (about 2,000 mg/l or less) and substantially free of suspended solids. In contrast, when a brine solution is used, the brine solution can inhibit the DWSPs from uncoiling and dissolving. The mixing time for the DWSPs to dissolve in fresh water ranges from about 30 minutes to more than an hour.
Unfortunately, these mixing times make conventional DWSPs undesirable for many applications. For example, liquid emulsions, which include oil, concentrated polyelectrolyte solution in water, and a surfactant, are more expensive than conventional DWSPs products, but the polymers in a liquid emulsions can be dissolved in minutes compared to the mixing times required in conventional DWSPs.
Accordingly, improved DWSPs are provided herein.